National Biodiesel Board Hires General Counsel

WASHINGTON – The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) announced Wednesday it has hired Washington attorney Sandra Franco as general counsel.

Franco previously was a partner in the environmental group at the international law firm Morgan Lewis, where she specialized in the Clean Air Act and natural resources law. Franco has long worked with the renewable fuels industry, including NBB, on a variety of legal matters. She is one of the nation’s foremost legal experts with respect to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

“There isn’t an attorney in the country who knows renewable fuels law better than Sandra Franco, and we are thrilled to have her join our team,” said NBB CEO Joe Jobe.

Franco has participated in litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, as well as other federal district courts and courts of appeal. For NBB, Sandra worked on regulatory proceedings affecting the biodiesel industry and led her firm’s team on litigation over the RFS, successfully defending full implementation of the program.

“Sandra is a tremendously skilled and seasoned attorney who will help us ensure that the U.S. biodiesel industry has a strong voice and expert counsel in Washington as well as on legal and regulatory issues across the country,” Jobe added.

Franco earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago and a Master’s degree from the University of Florida. She graduated with honors from Georgetown University Law Center. She lives in Washington.

Biodiesel – made from a variety of feedstocks including recycled cooking oil, soybean oil and animal fats – is the first EPA-designated Advanced Biofuel to reach commercial-scale production nationwide.